Designer Faces: Michael Kors Fall 2013

The Kors woman is usually inspired by travel and oozing with confidence—and sporting a golden glow. This season, she took a fresh-faced spin around town, with graphic eyes, a bouncy ponytail, and a notable absence of bronzer.

Kors loves to tell stories about his girls, explained makeup artist Dick Page: "Michael had this literal narrative about this downtown girl who goes uptown for lunch at Mr. Chow and then goes back downtown to the Mud Club." "She's also groomed and athletic," added hairstylist Orlando Pita. "There are latex-like elements in the collection, so there's a sporty thing going on."

The New York City story behind the collection dictated the major makeup departure from Kors's signature: "We're not doing the bronzy, sexy thing he normally does," said Page. "It's a graphic look, with just the right amount of highlights."

Page skipped foundation and just dotted concealer where needed to even out the skin. He swirled a golden champagne eye shadow from the limited-edition Shiseido Eye Color Bar palette (available fall 2013) along the models' cheekbones for a fresh glow, and to showcase the dramatic eye. "The makeup needs to go from day to night wear, so it's graphic but clean," Page said.

For the bold eye, Page blended Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Shadow in Caviar from the center of the lids past the outer corners, sweeping the ends into an exaggerated cat eye. He softened the edges with the champagne shadow he used to highlight models' cheekbones. "This adds luminosity to the face and emphasizes the shape of the shadow," said Page. He swiped the shimmery light pink shade from the same palette over the rest of the lids from the inner corners to the brow bones, blending the two cream shadows with a fluffy brush. He traced a thick black line along the upper lashes and finished with a coat of mascara.

First, Pita prepped the models' hair with T3 Elevate Heat-Seeking Iron Volumizer and, using a large round brush, blew it out straight, then pulled it back. "We're erasing the part," he said. Using a Mason Pearson boar-bristle brush, hair was smoothed back into a ponytail and secured with a regular hair tie. To give the look a sporty edge, Pita placed the ponytail halfway between the crown and the base of the skull. "A '50s ponytail is at the crown—lower is kind of '90s and minimal."

Sleek precut extensions were wrapped around the base of the ponytail and clipped in place, hitting between the shoulder blades. Pita then wrapped the base with black latex tape, which echoed trim in the collection. "I had to buy this tape at a sex shop —there's no adhesive, so you can tie somebody up and not worry," he explained. "I've used it before for hair—I'm not tying anyone up!"

For a sleek finish, Pita blasted the hair with L'Oréal Paris Elnett Satin Hairspray or his own T3+ Control Hair Spray to control flyaways, especially along the hairline. "This style is really sleek and perfect and shiny. Very groomed," he said.

Most of the models wore elbow-length leather gloves, but manicurist Yuna Park was still on hand to coat nails with Rimmel London Lacquer in Crushed Pearl, an opalescent shade that played off the shimmery eye.